WHAT’S HAPPENING TODAY: Good afternoon and happy Monday, readers! If you were in the path of the winter storm that hit the South and East Coast over the weekend, we hope you hunkered down at home and stayed safe! ❄️🌨️🥶 Be cautious when hitting the roads over the next few days as cities like Washington, D.C., and New York continue to clear the heavy snow and ice from major roadways.
Kicking things off this week, we have the latest on the Trump administration’s newest move to bolster the domestic critical minerals industry – taking a stake in USA Rare Earth 🪨💲.
And keep reading for what we know about an oil rig accident that occurred in Northern Alaska late last week 🛢️🏔️.
Plus, permitting reform is back on the docket in the Senate this week as the Environment and Public Works Committee will hold a hearing on the issue on Wednesday. We’ll have the latest on those discussions throughout the week.
Welcome to Daily on Energy, written by Washington Examiner energy and environment writers Callie Patteson (@CalliePatteson) and Maydeen Merino (@MaydeenMerino). Email cpatteson@washingtonexaminer dot com or mmerino@washingtonexaminer dot com for tips, suggestions, calendar items, and anything else. If a friend sent this to you and you’d like to sign up, click here. If signing up doesn’t work, shoot us an email, and we’ll add you to our list.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION TAKES STAKE IN USA RARE EARTH: USA Rare Earth announced today it has entered into an agreement with the Commerce Department and a collaboration with the Department of Energy to help accelerate the company’s mineral business.
What’s in the deal? As part of the agreement, the Commerce Department will provide the company with $1.6 billion, including $277 million in funding and a $1.3 billion loan. In return, the mineral company will issue the Commerce Department 16.1 million shares of common stock and 17.6 million warrants.
USA Rare Earth said the investment will help support its business, as it will be able to extract nearly 40,000 metric tons per day of rare earth and critical mineral feedstock from its top deposit by 2030, with commercial production expected to begin in 2028.
In a press release, USA Rare Earth CEO Barbara Humpton said, “With this unprecedented show of public and private support for our Company, we are positioned to accelerate the build-out of important domestic capabilities that are essential to U.S. national security, global economic competitiveness, and critical technologies of the future.”
Public-private partnerships: The deal marks yet another government deal in the sector, as the Trump administration seeks to secure the domestic supply of critical minerals amid Chinese stronghold over the global sector.
The administration has also taken stakes in mineral companies like MP Materials and Lithium Americas. The deal with USA Rare Earth is one of the largest investments by the government, resulting in the company’s stock jumping more than 20% today.
Read more by Maydeen here.
WRIGHT AND BURGUM BREAK WITH TRUMP FTC OVER COAL LAWSUIT: The Trump administration’s efforts to crack down on ESG initiatives may be interfering with its energy dominance agenda, as the leaders of the National Energy Dominance Council have come out against a coal-related lawsuit backed by the Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice.
Quick reminder: Last May, the DOJ filed an amicus brief supporting Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s lawsuit against BlackRock, State Street, and Vanguard over alleged antitrust violations. The lawsuit had accused the three firms of using their massive holdings in major coal producers to pressure the market in order to satisfy climate goals and reduce coal production. In offering its support, the Trump administration said the allegations undermined “America’s energy dominance.”
What’s new: During the National Coal Council meeting earlier this month, Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum were pressed on the lawsuit and concerns that it could force the firms to divest from their coal-related assets. In remarks that have not been widely reported, both secretaries panned the suit, with Wright saying “everyone” would be a loser with that outcome.
“It would be a tragedy, just the height of ignorance and arrogance,” Wright said. “It would say America is ready to hang up its hat and ride on these politically correct energy nonsensical policies. But of course, it could be appealed and fought. I don’t think we will end out in a place there.”
Burgum agreed, telling reporters that “everybody who pays an electrical bill” would pay the price for potential divestments in coal.
This is not the first time the lawsuit has been criticized by Republicans, as former Energy Secretary and former Texas governor Rick Perry released an op-ed last August calling it “misguided.”
You can listen to the secretaries’ complete remarks in audio obtained by Daily on Energy here.
WINTER STORM CHAOS: Several inches of snow dumped across the South and East Coast over the weekend, as the sweeping winter storm left hundreds of thousands without power and thousands of flights canceled.
Heavy snow, sleet, and ice hit millions of Americans over the weekend, with more than a foot of snow falling in more than a dozen states, according to the National Weather Service. The winter weather has heavily impacted domestic travel across southern and eastern states, as airports continue to clear snow and ice.
As of this afternoon, more than 700,000 homes and businesses in the U.S. were still without power, with Tennessee, Mississippi, and Louisiana seeing the most outages. More than 12,600 flights were canceled yesterday, and another 5,500 were canceled today.
So far, at least 22 deaths have been attributed to the storm, according to ABC News. This includes a 16-year-old girl in Texas who died during a sledding accident, and several others who died while removing snow.
ALASKAN OIL RIG ACCIDENT: One of the largest oil drilling rigs located on land in North America tipped over in Northern Alaska late Friday, breaking to pieces in the tundra below.
The details: The Doyon 26 rig, which was operating on ConocoPhillips’ behalf in the North Slope of Alaska, toppled just before 5 p.m. local time while it was being transported on a gravel road. Video of the incident shows the derrick, lit up with lights, tipping away from the road into what appears to be an empty snow field. A small fire could be seen under the base of the rig as other pieces broke off. You can find footage of the incident here.
In a statement released over the weekend, ConocoPhillips said that eight individuals – including two who were on the rig during the incident and six other initial responders – received medical treatment and have all since been released. There were no serious injuries.
As authorities are assessing potential environmental impacts, the oil and gas major has said there was no damage to pipelines or fuel transportation in the area. The closest oil and gas infrastructure was just 50 feet away from the fall site. The rig also fell less than 500 feet away from a tributary to the Nechelik Channel of the Colville River, with its potential spill area falling within a critical habitat for some local wildlife. As of Sunday, however, the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation said no impacts to wildlife had been reported.
Some background: The rig is owned and operated by Doyon Drilling and was first ordered by ConocoPhillips in 2016. The rig is able to hold a maximum of 84,000 gallons of diesel, 1,930 gallons of hydraulic oil, and 85 gallons of ethylene glycol. Roughly 4,000 gallons of diesel fuel was estimated to be on board at the time of the incident and it remains unclear how much might have spilled into the surrounding environment.
A PUSH FOR STRENGTHENING FEDERAL ENERGY STANDARDS: The Air Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI) is ramping up its push to modernize the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA), arguing that a national energy policy is needed to bring regulatory certainty to the industry.
EPCA is a 50-year-old statute that allows the Department of Energy to set energy-efficiency standards. It has not been updated in almost 20 years.
Samantha Slater, vice president of government affairs at AHRI, told Maydeen that “ensuring one national standard for all of our products certainly makes sense and is important to us to make sure our products are affordable for consumers.”
Slater noted that, over the past several years, states and local jurisdictions have taken steps to reduce natural gas appliances, which has ushered in a number of lawsuits. Most recently, the Trump administration earlier this month sued two San Francisco-area cities for ordinances that restrict natural gas infrastructure and appliances in new construction.
“Is there a way to strengthen the federal preemption clause in EPCA – which is great, which is great – but is there a way to strengthen that to prevent some of those activities from happening at a local or state level?” Slater said.
“I’ve lost track of how many lawsuits there are going on these days around different state and local jurisdictional battles around natural gas,” she said.
Slater noted there is an opportunity in the 119th Congress to pass a resolution modernizing EPCA. Last month, Georgia Republican Rep. Rick Allen introduced the “Don’t Mess With My Home Appliance Act,” which would reform EPCA, and there are several other bills in the House that touch on EPCA reform.
She said, “[It’s] about making sure that those policies are in place and that the law continues to function well, and that DOE, no matter who’s in charge, knows how to implement that and has a good path forward set on how to implement those laws.”
TRUMP TARIFF THREAT AGAINST CANADA: Over the weekend, Trump threatened to impose 100% on goods from Canada if Prime Minister Mark Carney decides to reach a trade agreement with China.
The new tariff threats followed Carney’s speech at Davos, where without naming Trump, he said that his policies are upending rules-based international order. At the same time, Carney has also sought closer relations with China, which Trump administration officials have also criticized. For instance, Canada recently cut 100% tariffs on Chinese-electric vehicles in return for relief from Chinese tariffs on agricultural goods.
Trump wrote on Truth Social, “If Governor Carney thinks he is going to make Canada a ‘Drop Off Port’ for China to send goods and products into the United States, he is sorely mistaken.”
“If Canada makes a deal with China, it will immediately be hit with a 100% Tariff against all Canadian goods and products coming into the U.S.A. Thank you for your attention to this matter!” he wrote.
EUROPE FINALIZES RUSSIAN GAS BAN: Members of the European Union have officially given their approval to ban imports of Russian gas by 2027, making the vow legally binding.
The details: During a meeting in Brussels earlier today, ministers from the EU states gave final approval for the ban, Reuters reported. Only Slovakia and Hungary voted against the move, and Bulgaria abstained from the vote. Hungary plans to challenge the decision in the European Court of Justice.
The ban will go into effect by the end of 2026 for Russian liquefied natural gas and the end of September 2027 for pipeline gas. The agreement does allow the pipeline gas deadline to be delayed until Nov. 1, 2027, if a country is unable to fill its storage systems with non-Russian supplies before the 2027-2028 winter season.
A LOOK AHEAD:
Jan. 27 The American Council for Capital Formation is holding a forum focused on offshore critical minerals exploration and development.
Jan. 27 Heatmap News is hosting a live event in Washington D.C. regarding transmission buildout, featuring keynote remarks from Democratic Sen. Martin Heinrich of New Mexico.
Jan. 27 The Conservative Energy Network is hosting a virtual policy briefing taking a closer look at policies shaping renewable energy in the U.S. this year.
Jan. 27 The Environmental and Energy Study Institute is holding a briefing on wildfire policy.
Jan. 27 – 29 The Midwest Energy Solutions Conference will be held in Chicago, Illinois.
Jan. 28 GE Vernova will hold a webcast to discuss their 2025 4th quarter earnings and financial results from the full 2025 year.
Jan. 28 The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee will be holding a hearing regarding permitting reform, featuring witnesses from the American Petroleum Institute and Solar Energy Industries Association.
Jan. 28 The Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee is to hold a hearing examining the Palisades fire, one year later.
Jan. 29 CHARGED is hosting a webinar examining flexible grid connections in order to connect new loads to the electricity grid at an accelerated pace.
Jan. 29 R Street is hosting a virtual panel titled “The U.S. Electric Reliability Outlook and Policy Implications.”
RUNDOWN
Inside Climate News A Town’s Opposition to Proposed Power Lines Sparks Discussion About the Cost of Texas’ Growth
Canary Media New EU carbon tariff pushes India toward green steel
The Washington Post Why the winter storm in D.C. on Sunday was so exceptional
